Women and the Alt-Right

Women and the Alt-Right

CECILIA DAVENPORT, an Alt-Right blogger, likes to tweet “fan-girl” photos of Richard Spencer (pictured), the movement’s unofficial leader. In one photo, Mr Spencer, who in November held a conference in Washington, DC to celebrate what he described as a white nationalist “awakening,” is shown talking on the phone: “Heil girl, let’s get daiquiris later and talk about making you queen of the ethnostate…of my heart.” The memes are an ironic take on the popular “Hey girl” meme in which Ryan Gosling, a Hollywood actor, is shown as a feminist boyfriend, saying things like “Hey girl, sure I’ll unload the dishwasher for you. Just let me finish folding and putting away the laundry first.”

Ms Davenport is one of a small number of women who publicly identify themselves as members of the Alt-Right. Mr Spencer has said he believes women constitute around one-fifth of the movement’s followers.